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Details of Israeli Soldier’s Release Emerge

An Israeli soldier held captive by militants in Gaza for five years is likely to return home as early as Tuesday, news agencies and Israeli media reported on Friday, a week after Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a prisoner swap.

The return of the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, would mark the first phase of a deal brokered by Egypt that would see him exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel and Hamas, which has held Mr. Shalit since June 2006, had been in close negotiations over the details since the deal was announced this week.

“If everything goes smoothly, on Tuesday he will be home,” an Israeli military spokeswoman, Tami Shienkman, told The Associated Press.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Sergeant Shalit would likely be brought from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and then across the border into Israel. A small number of female prisoners would be released after he passes through the Sinai Peninsula, the paper reported, with 450 more being freed after Sergeant Shalit is safely inside Israel.

The remaining prisoners would be released two months later, according to reports earlier in the week. Those reports could not be immediately confirmed.

The captivity of Sergeant Shalit was widely seen in Israel as a national trauma, but the deal for his release could shake up regional relationships, buttressing Egypt, Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and distracting attention from Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, who is travelling to world capitals in an effort to win votes for his bid to gain United Nations membership for a state of Palestine.